The Entrepreneurship Alliance

“Today’s students see the bigger economic picture.  They want to develop fresh products and innovative services.  They see market needs and want to advance ways to service those needs.   They need the support system to encourage them to take that first step, however.  The EA takes that student desire and grows it well beyond a classroom experience.  The EA engages members in events such as confidence building, pitch retreats, startup weekends, collegiate entrepreneurs’ organization conferences, and guest speakers that inspire and encourage students to pursue their passion.  With the EA, entrepreneurship isn’t just an elective, it’s a mindset.”

-Professor Bier

 

The Entrepreneurial Alliance is just one of many initiatives designed to foster a culture of innovation at MU. The movement is motivated by students who see the value in entrepreneurship and is fueled by business leaders who know that growth during a down economy depends on startups.

Alliance members explore personal opportunities in various areas of business startups, franchises, and family run businesses. The Alliance engages in experiences that develop entrepreneurial traits and characteristics such as a passion for business, tenacity despite failure, self-determination, management of risk, self-confidence, seeking opportunities, creativity, initiative, and detail orientation.

  EA students will participate in discussions with entrepreneurs, who will share their success stories along with their cautionary tales and answer questions from students. The speakers will come from a variety of industries as well as different phases of a business life cycle.

                A key aspect of entrepreneurial growth is networking, so students will attend luncheons with executives to help them get comfortable around business people they wish to work with or approach for support. The luncheons with entrepreneurs — local, regional and national figures — also offer students that opportunity to ask questions in a small, comfortable setting that they may be hesitant to ask in a classroom setting.